Cultural Typhoon Melbourne

Cultural Typhoon Melbourne is a group of Melbourne-based scholars, students and activists, initiated by Koichi Iwabuchi, interested in exploring media and cultural studies in Asian contexts. In solidarity with the Association for Cultural Typhoon based in Japan, Cultural Typhoon Melbourne will hold monthly seminars intended to create a space for the free and vigorous exchange of ideas and intellectual discussion based on an equal relationship among individuals. All are welcome to attend and participate. Details of upcoming seminars will be posted on the Events page.

Cultural Typhoon Melbourne #1

“I am not an Asianist, but…” On entangled interactions of “here” and “there”

The first gathering will feature two speakers, Koichi Iwabuchi (Monash University) and Fran Martin (Melbourne University), who would like to share with participants their research projects, concerns, predicaments, and plans for collaboration, focusing on the issues of entrapped relations of “here” and “there”. What is the significance and difficulty of doing critical studies of Asia in Melbourne/Australia (and in English)? How should we do research “here” on “there” (cultural issues in Asian regions), “here and there” (inter-Asian connections), “there in here” (migrants from Asia/Asian Australians)? Can critical studies of culture enable us to rethink “here” and “there” theoretically, imaginatively, collaboratively beyond a bipolar view? We invite you to join with us in attending afresh to long-standing questions of researchers’ positionalities, approaches to transnational ethno-cultural movements/connections, the de-Westernization of knowledge production, and cross-border collaboration.